Carpenter is Lincecum's Cy Young pick

Published 4:00 am, Friday, October 2, 2009

"I would like to see (Chris) Carpenter because of his comeback," Lincecum said. "He's put up pretty crazy numbers."

Carpenter, who missed more than a month this year with an oblique injury and most of 2007 and 2008 with an elbow injury, is 17-4 with a league-low 2.24 ERA for the St. Louis Cardinals after throwing five scoreless innings and driving in six runs (four on a grand slam) against the Reds on Thursday.

The Cardinals have two Cy Young candidates, including Adam Wainwright(19-8, 2.58). Lincecum, after outdueling Dan Harenon Thursday, is 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA. His ERA is lower than last year's 2.62, and his strikeout total (261) is four fewer than last year's 265.

Lincecum wouldn't gauge his chances to defend his Cy Young title, but five-time winner Randy Johnson said, "I told him a long time ago it's a lot harder the second time around. Repeating is a little harder. Look at Albert Pujols. He almost has to put up better numbers" to repeat as MVP.

Lincecum was asked about his season, and he said, "I'm glad I got my WHIP down." His WHIP - walks plus hits over innings pitched - is 1.05. It was 1.17 last year.